Loving a spirit
by Mephlocke
Summary: 3 Oc's, and 2 of them fancy girls. Rachel and Thalia don't know how much Brett Harper  son of Apollo  and Loki Vitali  son of Ares  care for them. Will the two of them get their girls?
1. Chapter 1

"Open it, Brett. Stop staring at it like it's some sorta trap!" Ivan chuckled at me.

"Knowing you, Ivan, it probably is. You remember that sword you made me last year... the Jack in the Box in the hilt?" I asked, wiping the hair out of my eyes. Ivan gave me his smug grin, fixing two bolts together, linked with wire.

"Yeah, well you shouldn't of set off the switch, man." Ivan grinned. I shook my head

"IT WAS HIDDEN! IN MY BACKPACK!" I roared, I tackled Ivan to the ground and we knocked over the Christmas tree.

"Yo, watch the presents Brett!" Ivan chuckled, flipping us over. Now he had the upper hand, he pinned me for 3 seconds before standing up. "Who's the champ? Who the man?" Ivan beat his chest and laughed. I laughed too. My name is Brett. Brett Harper. I'm a half blood, otherwise known as a demigod. I came to camp... must of been 3 years ago now. I'm 17, and the lug, Ivan, is my best mate here. He's son of Hephaestus, Greek god of the forge. Me? I'm the sun god's son. Son of Apollo at your service! There was a knock on the door. I jabbed a thumb at Ivan, who had just finished making a plane out of wrapping paper.

"Go get it." I chuckled, lying back on my bed. It was Christmas, such a good time for half bloods. Chiron let us off this time of year to see family or whatever. Since my mum's dead, I didn't have anywhere to go. Ivan's mum was probably gallivanting off round the world or something like that. She was a MAJOR explorer, going out to places that people had never heard of. I don't know what had drawn Ivan's dad to a woman like that, but oh well. Ivan stood at the door and peaked through the glass grate me and Will Solace had installed last year.

"It's Rachel. And by the looks of it, she comes bearing gifts." Ivan smirked at me. Now... before I tell you why Ivan is smirking, I may as well describe myself. I wouldn't say I'm handsome... more... adequate. I've got very long blonde hair, and always where gaudy shirts. That's probably some sun god thing. I like hoodies, though every kid here does. I have to wear my Camp Half Blood hoodie, its orange and very bright. But as a child of the sun good, that's quite a nice thing. Jeans are another thing, and ratty trainers. I hate wearing new clothes, especially shoes. The Aphrodite girls like mocking me for this, though... who can listen to them without going insane. Usually I just wear my old blue trainers... they probably don't sell this style anymore. Ok, now that's outta the way, I guess I better come clean. I fancy Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Our new oracle. She only arrived... a few weeks ago, but we hit it off from the start. We were mates at first, but then... yeah... you know how it is. Ivan, for some reason, finds this incredibly funny, though when he gets asked out by a lot of the girls at camp, I can see why. Will jumped off his bed, bow slung over his shoulder.

"Allow me." Will smiled, shoving Ivan out of the way. Will Solace was about the only one I could talk to about Rachel. He was good with that sorta thing. Mind you... I suppose my feelings could be worse... Loki (my other best friend) fancies a huntress... you know, those girls who can't date boys. And not only that. The huntress is a daughter of Zeus. That's just icing on Loki's cake though. He likes getting in trouble, though being a son of Ares, that's not so hard to believe. So, where was I... oh yeah. Will opened the door and Rachel walked in.

"Hey guys!" She smiled, I slumped on the bed.

"Don't look at me, don't look at me, don't look at me..." my brain screamed. She looked at me. She grinned

"Hey Brett! How're you doing." Ivan stifled a grin, chuckling slightly. Will shot him a glare

"Think it's time you left Ivan." I groaned. Ivan stood up. He coughed but I could make out the words

"ahemkissherahem" He fake coughed. "Merry Christmas guys!" Ivan stepped out the door, wrapping his camo jacket round himself as he did so.

"What was that about?" Rachel asked. She was hot. To me anyway. She was tall...ish. She had red hair and freckles... a lot of freckles. She always had paint on her clothes, which I thought made her look even cuter. I blushed a little.

"No idea. You bring presents I see, madam." I placed my hands behind my head and pulled my hood up, trying to hide my red cheeks.

"Yeah, here." She handed me a gift... it was wrapped though I knew what it was. It was a quiver, I discovered upon opening it. That was what I'd been expecting. Though it was custom painted and had my name written on it. "Merry Christmas Brett." Was written underneath that. I grinned, picking up my bow from the desk next to my bed.

"You got any arrows?" I asked Will. Will reached in his quiver and pulled out half, chucking them to me.

"Knock yourself out. Rachel, take him down the target range." Will grinned, walking out the door.

"Let's go Brett" She smiled, extending her hand. I took it, my palms sweating. "You're sweating..." Rachel noticed. I gave a false chuckle.

"No... it's winter, why would I be sweating?" I grinned. Rachel shook her head

"No idea... I worry about you sometimes you know..." She shrugged. She was holding my hand all the way to the targets...

A throwing spear impaled the target at the end of the field. Loki stood chucking spears. They were in a stack next to him. His black hair was in a ponytail. It wasn't long or anything, in fact it looked pretty dumb... though no-one questioned Loki much. About anything. Thalia Grace stood next to him. The huntress that he fancied. She was pretty, though not as pretty as I found Rachel. Loki was better at not showing his emotions. His spears were off target though, always hitting the outer rim.

"Come on, Lok, what's wrong with you?" Thalia chuckled. The hunters had been given permission to stay this Christmas. This wasn't a common occurrence, in fact this was the first time I'd seen it happen. Usually they were out smashing monster butt, or saving the world from a deadly mutant stag... something like that.

"Move over man!" I shouted, approaching the two. Loki saw Rachel with me and nodded. He mouthed the words "Good luck" and moved aside. I knocked an arrow from Rachel's custom quiver, in a motion that was pretty much instinctive. I let it loose. It flew across the field and hit dead centre. Rachel jumped in the air

"Yeah! Go Brett!" She mock cheered. I grinned at Rachel. I was blushing again, I knew it.

"It's an awesome quiver, Rachel, thanks!" I waved to her, as she started off to the cave she lived in. Don't worry, it was quite homely... very homely in fact. Thalia left, probably to talk to Rachel about girl stuff. Loki slumped on the bench next to the target run. I sat down next to him.

"How's it going man?" I asked

"Not great." Loki sighed, slouching. His spear was in it's long scabbard, strapped as always to his back. "Thalia, that hot chick, is putting me off." He chuckled at this. "Christmas romance... you can never get any better." He stood up and started to walk over to collect his spears, I started off too, going to collect my arrow. "How's things with you? You were holding hands, that's good." He grinned, I shook my head and he nodded. "Just another Rachel thing?" He asked.

"Yeah..." I sighed. "How am I gonna get her to like me?" I asked. Loki shrugged.

"Depends." He said "I'm not that advanced in the world of romance, though... being older I could give you some advice. Though first." Loki pulled three spears out of the target "How much do you love Rachel?"

"Well... I blush whenever I see her, she's in quite a lot of my dreams..." Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Is she ever wearing anything in those dreams?" He chuckled. I gave him a shove

"Well... that depends on my mood... and my imagination. But... regularly... no..." Loki grinned, shaking his head.

"Anything else?"

"Whenever she says anything, I start sweating, same when we make physical contact. Bumping into each other, anything like that..." Loki pulled my arrow out of the target and handed it to me

"Sounds like you need some help..." He nodded, folding his arms...


	2. Chapter 2

Loving a Spirit

Loki folded his arms and stared blankly at me. We'd been talking all morning, and he still didn't appear to understand what I was talking about.

"What's wrong man? You just seem a bit... cut-off..." I asked, concerned. He was a close friend. Whenever something seemed wrong, I had to know what it was, even if it got me killed. Which was a possibility. Loki glanced at me. His eyes were kind of glazed over, like he wasn't really paying attention.

"Nothing. Just... can't get Thalia outta my head..." He chuckled to himself. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Heh. Just forget about it. We both have girl trouble, that's why we're sticking together this christmas." There was a slight sound behind me. Leaves underfoot.

"I thought girl trouble was when you had a girlfriend." It was Ivan. He had a daughter of Aphrodite trailing along behind him. She looked pretty flustered, blushing and giggling. Another wannabe Ivan girlfriend probably. Loki clenched his fists around his spear. Fire started to glow round his hands.

"Think happy thoughts!" I yelled at him. Loki breathed deeply, and the grip loosened.

"Cool it, Lok. Hell of a lot of things are going on. And we need an archer for capture the flag... Brett, you in?" Ivan raised an eyebrow and I shrugged

"Sure, why not?" I smiled. Ivan was right. I needed to stop thinking about Rachel, concentrate on my camp activities. It was at that moment, Rachel walked past.

"Capture the flag? When?" She asked. Ivan sniggered.

"Don't tell her..." I mumbled. The Aphrodite girl spoke up.

"Today, round... 5PM." Rachel pulled her winter coat around herself.

"In this weather? It's freezing... But, I'm in. Gonna cheer the blues all the way!" She raised a fist, jokingly. Loki smirked

"You don't seriously think that the blue feathers can win? Not after their crushing defeat last time..." He glanced at me at this comment. All that anger seemed to have gone. I shot him a glare.

"That was Will's fault! He said to stay back, I did!" Loki shook his head, still with his annoying smile on his face.

"Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses." He chuckled, starting to walk away, pulling a spear out of the ground and dragging it along with him. His hair bristled in the breeze, his topknot blowing around.

"He looks like a right clot." Ivan chuckled.

"He's going for the Japanese look." The two of us high-fived. It had been a running joke between us. Loki had always wanted to go abroad. He just didn't have the money. Rachel shot me a look, her freckles red with anger.

"That's horrible!" She yelled "You know about his dreams, and you still mock him? I thought he was your friend!" She slapped me across the face, hard, and stormed off to her cave, yelling one final comment: "I may cheer the red's now!" Ivan burst out laughing and I shook my head. That was a stupid move. I knew Rachel and how she treated Loki like a brother. The two of them were close. In a friendly way, thankfully. Ivan was clutching his stomach, laughter just erupting from his mouth.

"Oh gods, Brett! You could not of maid a worse move!" He shook his head, still laughing. He recovered quickly, stood up straight and clicked his fingers.

"Emily, let's go!" He grinned. The Aphrodite girl, apparently called Emily, started to walk off behind Ivan. I picked the bow up and shot rapidly into the target. He got on my nerves so badly! I knew he was friendly, and deep down he didn't mean it, but still! It was a pain in the neck! There was the sound of hooves behind me. I turned my head and saw Chiron, just standing, watching.

"6 arrows, each in the centre. Some of the best shooting I've seen in days." I just stared at him.

"Chiron?" I said, slowly.

"What, my child?" He smiled at me, with those wise eyes looking at me. They seemed to know exactly what I was going to tell him.

"I kinda... fancy a girl... and that's why I'm so good at shooting today..." I admitted. Chiron, Will and Loki. The only three people I could talk to. Chiron trotted from left to right.

"Ah. Miss Dare, I believe?" He chuckled. I gaped.

"How'd you..." He cut me off

"I see at lot, Mr. Harper. They're not that hidden. Your feelings, I mean. It's pretty obvious when you think about it." He smiled at me. I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Whatever. Sir, I wanna ask her out... I just don't wanna look foolish..." I sighed, Chiron trotting over to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Listen lad. I don't know what to do about this. I'm not highly knowledgeable in the romance world." He started to trot off "But. If you want some small advice from an old centaur: stay on her good side." He chuckled, starting to trot away again. I looked at my shoes.

"Blown that already then..." I murmured.

The conch horn sounded. We started to run. Heading for the Ares flag. The Hephaestus cabin and Apollo cabin had banded together. This was serious. Ares alone was a formidable force. But Ares and Athena? Unstoppable. 2v2 capture the flag was a brutal game. But it was anyone's too. Both of us had our tactics. But, due to the Athena's, we were doomed to loose. An Ares kid shot a blow at me. I ducked his blade, kicking him in the gut to finish off. He collapsed, moaning.

"Sorry." I grinned at him

"Good luck... you'll need it..." He murmured, softly. I'd done him some damage, I could tell. But still, that's the way the game goes. I continued to run.

"Going somewhere?" Ivan yelled over the noise of clashing swords. He caught up with me, his massive mallet in his hands. That two handed weapon dealt massive damage. And he certainly wasn't afraid to use it. I was glad to be on his side.

"Think I'd go on without someone to stop me getting roughed up? You're mistaken, my friend." I laughed. Ivan smirked and we charged on. I shot a kid in the leg with one of the special arrows. They weren't sharp, or deadly. They just stung. A lot. It felt like a bee sting, just 10 times worse. The kid collapsed. It was a girl, I realised. Ivan tapped her back, gently, toppling her. She lay in the dirt, pulling the arrow out of her leg.

"Ow!" She yelled at me.

"Oops." I grinned, cheesily. Rushing on, we saw many more campers, battling it out. Loki was standing there, smashing a Hephaestus kid over the head with his spear and shield. Will was rushing about, shooting arrows. The flag was in reach. Then I saw her... Rachel. Standing there, with a red flag above her head, cheering Loki on. I bashed into a shield, held by an Athena camper. My head went numb, everything going black. Ivan was staring at me, and Rachel gasped.

"Gods!" Chiron grumbled, cantering over...


	3. Chapter 3

Loving a Spirit

I stood over Brett's bed, smiling, as he began to come round. I'd let my hair down today, the topknot no longer there. I knew it looked stupid, I just liked it. Brett stirred, moaning.

"Hey man. How're you doing?" I asked

"Muh..." Brett answered, simply. I laughed

"Really? Sounds fascinating." Brett shook his head

"Mmm..." He rubbed his head now, feeling the bandage that Chiron had put on him.

"Sorry, just... haven't been here... mentally, for a while..." He sat up slightly. "Anything happen when I was away? More to the point, how long have I been away?" I shifted in my chair next to bed, uncomfortably. Something had happened when he was away, though I had to keep it secret. For her sake.

"You've been away... 2 weeks. Tops." Bret groaned, rolling his eyes, again, rubbing his head.

"Ugh... Sorry..." I smiled, warmly

"Never mind."

"Loki?" He asked me, his blonde hair in streaks down his face. I nodded my head in acknowledgement. "About my first question, did anything happen or not. Don't keep me in suspense man!" He grinned. I, again, shifted.

"Umm... nope, nothing important." Actually, something very important had happened...

_Rachel stood over Brett's bed, staring at him, holding his hand as he slept._

_"Loki?" She asked me. I sat up, smiling at her_

_"Yeah?"  
>"You're my best mate, you know that?"<em>

_"Where's this going?" I asked her, laying my hands behind my head._

_"Don't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you... 'k?" A frown formed on my face_

_"Where is this going, Rachel?" I asked again, more seriously this time. _

_"Brett... I kinda... well..." I sly grin formed on my face_

_"You don't fancy him do you?" I asked. Rachel blushed deeply. She was fiddling with the folds of her coat._

_"Maybe... I... yeah..." She blurted. I grinned._

_"Hey, that's awesome! You need to-" She cut me off_

_"If you're gonna say that I should tell him... then don't. I can't, not after what happened with me and Percy... what if he doesn't love me back..." I patted her shoulder_

_"I'll keep your secret safe, Rachel, don't worry 'bout that." Rachel smiled at me, gave me a friendly hug, and walked out of the medical tent. Then..._

Brett had woken up. That's where we are right now. She just confided in me that she had a crush on the boy that was crushing, badly, on her. I couldn't tell Rachel Brett fancied her, or Brett would freak. I couldn't tell Brett Rachel fancied him, or Rachel would freak. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. And it wasn't pretty. ..

Walking out of the medical tent, I saw the snow lying on the ground. The weather still got into Camp Half Blood, even though monsters couldn't. Chiron says that weather can be a monster sometimes. I never really get what he means by that, but if I was a horse I'm sure I would. So, I was minding my own business, wandering about, spear in hand, when guess who walks up to me. Thalia Grace. She had her spear and arrows slung over her back, sword in hand. It was one of those times when I wished I was somewhere else. Thalia smiled at me, and I felt myself blush. That's never happened to me before...

"Lok." She greeted. I grinned back.

"How's it going, Thalia?" She shrugged

"Ok I guess. I just wanted to get some sword practice, and I need a decent opponent. Chiron said he'd give us some space." I nodded

"I'm in. So... where are we gonna..." I was cut off by Thalia's sword swinging at my head.

"Come on Lok." She grinned, swinging at me again. This time, prepared, I jumped backwards, and swung my spear. She ducked and bashed the hilt of her sword into the spear tip. I grinned and jabbed. Her sword deflected my attack, then counterattacked. I blocked her counter and swung again, once to the right, and, trying to catch her off guard, I swung back to the left. Thalia blocked the right swing, but the left caught her some what off guard. It narrowly missed her torso, swinging just as she jumped backwards. However, she was out of balance. My perfect chance. I thrust my spear forward at her chest, but her reflexes saved her once again. Her sword flickered in the light, my eyes burning for a second. She lunged forward, and I rose my spear just in time. We met in a clash, smiling at each other. She broke the clash and whirled her sword around her head, smacking it down on mine a split second after.

"Oww..." I moaned, sitting in the dirt.

"Spear on sword is a tricky one..." she helped me up, smiling. "You're good Lok. We should do this again some time." She turned and walked away. I heard faint clapping and spun. Ivan stood behind me, a load of other campers with him

"You and you're little friends come to offer fake congratulations for my loss? Or are you gonna go away?" I snapped at the dark haired kid. He smiled at me, still clapping

"What, me and my pals? Nah, we're gonna offer you advice." I raised one eyebrow at Ivan

"Advice on girls?" I suggested

"Nah, your footwork is shabby. Todd!" Called Ivan. A burly, 6ft sword wielder walked toward me. His sword was long, broad and rather dim. Somewhat like Todd. Todd Hutchins was Ivan's cousin in law. The two of them didn't get on as such, but Todd was there for Ivan when necessary. Well her had to be, otherwise Ivan's groupies would sue him for something.

"Todd will show you footwork." Ivan smiled, walking away, his "pals" following him.

"So, Todd, footwork?" I asked. Todd's curly black hair bristled in the breeze, his grey-green shirt blowing loosely. The snow crunched under his feet as he plodded towards me. And then he punched me in the face.

"Footwork. You gotta get better, or Ivan gonna sue!" Bellowed Todd, swaggering away, his stupidly over muscled arms adding to his reputation of Todd the Giant. All he needed was a friend/enemy called Hulk and he'd be set. Lying in the dirty snow once again, I decided to just stay there. I needed some time to think things over...

**Well, sorry for the long wait, but that's chapter 3 done! Thanks for all those who are still reading this!**


	4. Chapter 4

Loving a Spirit

**Ivan's POV**

Sitting in the Hephaestus cabin is a pretty boring experience. Not much goes on in there, aside from all the smelting, blacksmithing, forging, and general makeshift weapon working that all happens under its roof. Well, it's boring if you see it day in day out anyway. I was lying on my bed, not a care in the world. Sure, I was regretting sending Todd out to punch Loki in the face, but he needed to grow up. A huntress like Thalia was not going to be interested in some gormless, top-knot obsessed Ares kid, who hardly even spoke to her. I mean come on, it's ridiculous! She's more likely to be interested in me, I mean, I've got all the looks and charm and… getting sidetracked aren't I? Yeah, better get back on track… So, anyway I was lying on bed when one of my half brothers walked in. Marvin was 6ft 5 and wouldn't be seen without a headband to keep the sweat out of his eyes. He spent all day, everyday down in the forge (I know I said forging happens in our cabin, but that's just temporary stuff, most forging happens in the forges… yeah, it's unoriginal but, you know…).

"Ivan… where's Todd?" He asked

"Todd, umm, who's Todd again?" I looked sheepish, not wanting him to know that the whole Ares cabin might be coming for our blood if Loki told them what happened outside.

"Todd. My half brother… and your half brother Todd. Todd the GIANT, it's sort of hard to not know who he is Ivan, so where is he?" Marvin looked angry, as usual.

"Look, Marv, how am I supposed to know where he is? It's not like he follows me around all day, every day is it?" I was now sitting on the edge of the bed, not really happy with where this conversation was heading. I mean, why couldn't Marvin be talking about something more interesting? Here's a perfect conversation with me and Marvin, ok:

"_Hey Ivan! Wow, you're looking awesome as always!"_

"_Thanks Marvin! How about you go and polish my boots ok?"_

"_Sounds good to me chief! I'll be back in a flash!"_

I mean, it's not too much to ask for is it? What with my natural awesomeness, that should be happening everyday with Marvin, but _no_, I have to be shouted at by Lord Annoying whenever he feels like it! I mean… sidetracked again? Yeah, sorry… Anyway, Marvin was now getting quite cross. Well, if he could be anymore cross.

"He does hang about with you everyday! He's pretty much your shadow! So tell me, bro, where the heck is Todd?" I shook my head at Marvin, looking smug. That was a pretty good look for me, not that any look is a _bad_ look for me.

"Look Marvin, you know Loki from the Ares cabin? Well, he's been annoying me recently, so… I got Todd to teach him some footwork is all."

"Since when do you teach footwork to people who have been annoying you? And since when does Todd know anything about it?" Marvin screeched, his voice reaching a level of volume that I didn't know existed

"Look, Todd… punched him in the face, ok?"

"TODD DID WHAT TO LOKI? HE'S ONE OF THE MOST… ARGH!" Marvin was waving his arms around in the air, sweat streaming down his face. That was why he wore a headband, and even that didn't stop it very well.

"Take a long, nice walk, Marvin." I sighed, pushing him towards the door. I slowly twisted the door knob… and pushed my brother into the snow, face first. Talk about skill or what. Marvin stammered through a mouthful of snow and I quickly retreated to my bunk, letting it slowly recline backwards into the wall of the Hephaestus cabin…

X

**Loki's POV**

The snow was pretty cold, and I was getting a bit fed up of it now. I know I said I had things I needed to think about but I've enough of thinking now. Rather like I'd had enough of the snow to be quite frank.

"I wanna go over to the Dionysus cabin…" I sighed to myself, longingly looking over at the grape vines and sunshine that radiated from it's white walls.

"Then go over there and enjoy yourself, Loki." A voice suggested. I knew instantly that it was Chiron, the activities manager.

"Chiron, I was going to go over there. I was just saying that I wanted to is all." I chuckled, a hint of sarcasm in my voice. A hint that Chiron instantly picked up on.

"No need to be sarcastic with me young man. But, just humor me. What are you doing, lying down in the snow?" The old centaur asked, a little gruffly.

"I was thinking. But then I got sort of distracted. I smelt wine, man. That special Dionysus stuff smells sweet!" Chiron chuckled at me

"It is a special wine, I'll grant you. But trust me, you don't want to try and drink that stuff. It's… certainly an acquired taste." Chiron looked revolted at just the memories of drinking the Dionysus campers' wine.

"Maybe I won't go over to the Dionysus cabin after all…" I murmured

"Wise decision lad." Chiron smiled, warmly. I stood up and shook myself off, most of the snow falling off my wet body.

"It's pretty cold, now that I think about it…" I shivered, Chiron smiling again

"What exactly were you thinking about, Loki?" He asked, one eyebrow raised. I shrugged

"Camp stuff, nothing important."  
>"I'm the activities director here, Loki, everything about the camp is important to me. Please, do go on." I sighed. Chiron, the kindly old… horse that he was, certainly had a way of being dead annoying when he wanted to be. I mean, most people would've just let a comment like the one I made slide.<p>

"Ok, so it's not camp stuff I'm thinking about, well… it sort of is…"  
>"How can it sort of be related to camp but not fully be about it? Is it something to do with the campers perhaps, Loki? Maybe a camper is the reason you're lying down in the snow, pretty damn cold, hmm?" Like I said, pretty damn annoying when he wants to be<p>

"2 of the campers and the oracle. That's who I'm thinking about."  
>"Right, let's start with the 2 campers then shall we, Loki." Chiron smiled, his eyes going straight through me<p>

"Well…"  
>"Oh gods, not out here we'd probably freeze to death. Come over to the big house, we'll talk more in there." Chiron wrapped one of his hairy arms around me, trotting off to the big house. I had no choice but to follow… I mean it's pretty hard to get out of a centaur's grip…<p>

X

**Brett's POV**

The infirmary was getting boring. And the shirt that I was wearing was getting really itchy. I mean, the shirt was made of this really fine cotton. Greek stuff, apparently. But, even though the stuff was delicate on the wound to my shoulder (the blow to my head was the main damage, but me collapsing onto the ground hadn't exactly been painless.) it was pretty much the most uncomfortable thing I've ever worn in my life. I mean even more uncomfortable than the rusty old armour I'd been forced to wear on my first day at camp during sword practice.

"I need a new shirt…" I muttered, sitting up in bed. At the end of my bed were my everyday clothes. Loki must've bought them in when he came to see me a few hours ago. Weirdly, Ivan hadn't been round to see me yet, not that it would make any difference. The guy's OK, but he can be a bit of a pain in the neck. No offence, Ivan. I decided it was time for me to get out of the infirmary. I'd been sitting in here for far too long and the posters were starting to make me feel ill. I thought the idea of them was to make you feel better, not worse. So, I got out of bed and threw off the itchy as anything shirt, replacing it with my camp half blood T-shirt. The gaudy orange was a pretty welcome sight to my eyes, let me tell you. I wrapped the Hawaiian jacket I usually wore round my shoulders (thank gods Loki hadn't brought my dyed pink one… yeah, Ivan thought it would be funny to do something like that) and pulled on my jeans. They were a little worn, a few holes dotted around on the knee but they were more comfortable than the horrible infirmary trousers, again probably the most itchy things that I'd ever worn. I shivered as I stepped outside. No-one was out on the grounds as far as I could see, not that I could blame them it was as cold as Mount Olympus outside. That is, I thought there was no-one until I saw a 6ft something kid trying to break the Hephaestus cabin door open. I started to walk over to him, something in the back of my mind instantly telling me this had something to do with Ivan Crosshatch…

**Well, that chapter took WAY longer than it should have. Sorry if it's not up to scratch or whatever, I just wanted to get a chapter out to prove that I'm not dead. No Rachel/Brett stuff in this chapter, but hey, that's just how it goes, :P. R&R, all that good stuff and I'll be back with an update ASAP!**

**~Meph**


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